Mom drives van into Hudson; 3 kids drown along with her in Newburgh

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NEWBURGH — A mother drove her minivan and three children into the Hudson River, drowning them all on Tuesday evening, police said.

City of Newburgh police divers found the bodies of the mother, two boys — ages 5 and 2 — and an 11-month-old girl inside the van.

Police believe the woman let a fourth child, a 10-year-old boy, out of the van shortly before the incident.

The boy ran up the hill to the Newburgh fire station and told firefighters his mother had just driven into the river with his brothers and sister, police said.

Divers found the minivan under the water, several yards away from the shore.

The woman had apparently driven off the boat ramp, just south of Gully's Restaurant at the foot of Washington Street.

She and the children were already dead when divers found them.

Gully's, a floating restaurant, was not open for the season yet, and the boat ramp sits in a quiet corner of the waterfront, undisturbed for much of the year. Police had found no witnesses besides the boy on Tuesday night.

Police used a tow truck to pull the minivan out of the river around 9 p.m.

Along with the divers, emergency responders had searched the water with a state police helicopter and the City of Newburgh's fire department boat.

Cops, troopers and firefighters stood along the shore as the van was wenched from the dark water.

"It's a horrible sight, all of them in the car," said City of Newburgh police Chief Michael Ferrara.

Ferrara said it appears that the incident was related to an incident from earlier that evening.

Police responded to a report of a domestic dispute about 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday at 53 William St., Apt. 2.

When officers arrived at the address, however, there was no one inside. Minutes later, the 10-year-old showed up at the fire station to tell them what had happened.

Police have not released any of the family's names.

Police closed off the Gully's parking lot with yellow tape and continued to monitor the crime scene at the river late Tuesday night, while detectives returned to the second-floor apartment on William Street.

A downstairs neighbor, Jim Simeon, said a woman and her small children lived upstairs but he'd never spoken to them.

He'd often heard the sounds of children playing come through the ceiling.

"The kids play, but not fighting," Simeon said. "It's terrible."

He said he heard nothing on Tuesday night.

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